Clark_LMF

//Learning Motivation and Fun//
 //View// the assignment page //for a more detailed explanation of this project.

In this exercise, you'll collect data from our database of interviews about fun and learning. Use this template and the data to create 5 generalizations for what you observed. Your generalizations should answer the questions//
 * //What makes learning fun and engaging?//
 * //What are the implications for your own teaching and design work//

What are your 5 generalizations?

 * //1) Students under the age of ten reported using some type of manipulative in a learning experience they perceived as "fun".//** The students under the age of ten that were interviewed had learning experiences that were primarily outside of the classroom and included some type of device to help them learn. Natalie had fun learning to snowboard, while Ryan had fun learning how to go down a ramp on a skateboard. There were not a lot of interviews in this range. A lot of the experiences were from older interviewees who had their experience under the age of ten. One common aspect of the learning experiences was that the activities were one-on-one. Ryan learned from his cousin, while Natalie worked one-on-one with an instructor. Personalized attention is important to little kids.


 * //2) The majority of learning experiences include "a lot" of humor.//** A search was conducted with the only constraint being that the learning experience was described as having "a lot" of humor. 42 search results came up, which is about a forth of all the videos in the database. This implies that humor is a very important aspect to a learning experience. Unfortunately I watched about six of these videos and no one mentioned the humor aspect even though it was in the description.


 * //3) High school students had a significant positive and fun experience because of their "high" enthusiasm for the subject.//** 26 of the 43 learners in this age group had their experience in a subject where they had "high" enthusiasm. This is not statistically significant, which leads me to believe you do not have to have "high" enthusiasm in order to enjoy the learning experience. Watching these videos the majority did not mention that they were enthused about the subject. Cathy stated that she really enjoyed magic, which is why she liked the class.


 * //4) Males more often reported that "high" competition was important to a fun and engaging learning experience.//** This generalization is incorrect. 13 of 68 males cited the learning experience as highly competitive, while 17 of 87 females cited the experience as highly competitive. Both of these figures are approximately 20%. Competition seems to be of equal importance with males and females. Three of the girls (Kamina, Minh, and Mridusmita ) had competitive learning experiences in sports, while none of the boys cited any learning experience in sports. This surprised me even more.


 * //5) Most interviewees had their experience with the confines of a classroom.//** 59 of the interviews had learning experiences with the 15 to 35 people involved, which for the majority means in a classroom. The majority of the experiences were from high school. The search results suggest that even though learning experiences can happen anywhere, most of them happen to people while they our in school.